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Baildon hit the heights but are still odds-on to go down

THIS six-try bonus-point away win was Baildon's best performance of the season in Yorkshire Division Three, but their survival is still dependent on other results.

It soon became apparent that the visitors had the upper hand at the set- piece, with John Pickersgill stealing ball at the line-out and the Jenny Laners having the nudge on Hemsworth at the scrum.

Despite this dominance, however, Baildon looked to attack from deep, rather than finding an exit from their own 22 and playing percentage rugby, and turnover ball led to them conceding a well-worked try to Hemsworth, who attacked down the left before switching play to the right via long, slick passes.

Although Hayden Peers had some promising runs to show Baildon's attacking intent, player of the season Harrison Strauss pounced on a loose ball and broke the gain line before linking with his brother Luke, Baildon's most improved player, who pinned his ears back to make the line.

Hemsworth then survived a poor restart, where Baildon's young player of the season Zack Orrell and Guy Price both made ground, before more turnover ball allowed the hosts to score a converted try.

Baildon, who edged the first-half penalty count, thus trailed 12-5 at half-time, and that became 15-5 when the visitors were harshly judged to have made a no-arms tackle.

But they bounced back when Luke Strauss once more made a line break, and the supporting Robbie Hill drew the home defence before giving Matty Robinson a delightfully-weighted pass.

He looked certain to score but was tap-tackled metres short of the line, yet had the presence of mind to pop the ball up for Matty Dixon to score, Ollie Williams' excellent conversion reducing the deficit to three points.

However, Hemsworth slotted a penalty that was reversed after retaliation, but they conceded possession at the restart by turning the ball over, and, in a carbon-copy attack, Hill again put Robinson through, but this time the latter made the line for Williams to convert and give Baildon the lead for the first time at 19-18.

There were ten minutes left and Hemsworth scored a converted try in the corner to regain the ascendancy, and there was a further blow when Williams left the field bleeding and concussed.

Rather than dispiriting the visitors, however, Baildon were inspired, and Harrison Strauss ran 30 metres to score the bonus-point try under the posts, with Tom Massey coolly drop-kicking the conversion to put the Jenny Laners 26-25 in front.

Baildon's kicking game had been good all match, and when Hill kicked deep and turned defenders, Peers put in a great chase.

This ensured that Baildon played out the match in the right part of the field, and when Baildon got possession Luke Hope-Robertson turned defenders inside and out and looked like he had made the line, only for the referee to be unsighted.

Dan Cookson had moved to scrum half, and from the five-metre scrum launched a series of drives towards the line, eventually spotting a large gap to score for Massey to convert.

Hemsworth needed two tries in quick succession, but they were killed off by Dixon, who not only caught the ball but set off like a whirling dervish to bounce his way through the entire home team and score.

This was quite a difference from the opening day of the season when Baildon shipped 52 unanswered points at home to Hemsworth.

Now the Jenny Laners need a bonus-point win in their last match of the season at Sheffield Medicals on Saturday and then hope that Skipton fail to pick up any points in their last three matches.

Ipsoregulated

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